Mind Sports South Africa's (MSSA) blog on competitive gaming in South Africa from proto-computer gaming all the way through to the most modern. For more about MSSA go to: https://www.facebook.com/mindsportssa/
Should you wish to submit an article, please send it to mindsportssa@gmail.com. Please note that the editors reserve the right to decide on which articles to publish.

Wednesday, 25 February 2015

The championship also counts as a qualifier for the MSSA's National
Team Trials. Even though the IeSF has, as yet, not announced all the
titles that will be played at the 7th World Championships - Lodz,
the IeSF has already announced that CounterStrike GO and Dota 2
shall be played at such event.

Thus the MSSA shall at least select a Protea Team for CS GO and a
Protea Team for Dota 2.

Registrations are thus open for MSSA's MWEB 2015 North West
LAN Championships. Registrations will close on the 4 March
2015. Players who wish to compete in any of MSSA's
Championships are advised to complete their annual registration
forms so that they may registered as Registered Players as soon as
possible. Late entries will be accepted in exceptional
circumstances.

All gamers are reminded that the North West championships is
an open championship.In other words any registered player is
entitled to enter the championship – no matter where they
live, or their category of membership. If you have any
queries, please contact the MSSA.

Championship Details:
Hosting Club: St Conrad's College

Venue: St Conrad's
College, Klerksdorp

Date: 7 & 8
March 2015

Entry Fees: R60.00
per Registered Player per Period

Computers:
Bring your own. Please ensure that all game updates are
done prior to arrival. No updates shall be done at the
event.

Schedule: The LAN
Schedule for all Provincial events in 2015 is:

Saturday

Time

StarCraft
II

Call
of Duty: AW

League
of Legends (LoL)

Hearthstone

Ultimate
Street Fighter IV

09H00

Round 1
Starts

Round 1
Starts

Round 1
Starts

Round 1 Starts

Round 1
Starts

09H45

Round 2 Starts

Round 1
Continues

Round 1 Continues

Round 1
Continues

Round 2 Starts

10H30

Round 3 Starts

Round 2
Starts

Round 2 Starts

Round 2
Starts

Round 3 Starts

11H15

Round 4 Starts

Round 2
Continues

Round 2 Continues

Round 2
Continues

Round 4 Starts

12H00

Round 5 Starts

Round 3
Starts

Round 3 Starts

Round 3
Starts

Round 5 Starts

12H45

Round 3
Continues

Round 3
Continues

Round3
Continues

13H00

LUNCH

Time

TEKKEN
TTII

Call
of Duty: AW

LoL
(continued)

Hearthstone
(continued)

14H00

Round 1
Starts

Round 4
Starts

Round 4
Starts

Round 4 Starts

14H45

Round 2 Starts

Round 4
Continues

Round 4 Continues

Round 4
Continues

15H30

Round 3 Starts

Round 5
Starts

Round 5 Starts

Round 5
Starts

16H15

Round 4 Starts

Round 5
Continues

Round 5 Continues

Round 5
Continues

17H00

Round 5
Starts

18H00

Awards
Ceremony

19H00

Doors
Close

SUNDAY:

Time

Dota

CounterStrike

OSU

FIFA
'14

Trackmania
Nations

09H00

Round 1
Starts

Round 1
Starts

Round 1
Starts

Round 1
Starts

Round 1
Starts

09H45

Round 1 Continues

Round 1
Continues

Round 1 Continues

Round 2
Starts

Round 2 Starts

10H30

Round 2 Starts

Round 2
Starts

Round 2 Starts

Round 3
Starts

Round 3 Starts

11H15

Round 2 Continues

Round 2
Continues

Round 2 Continues

Round 4
Starts

Round 4 Starts

12H00

Round 3 Starts

Round 3
Starts

Round 3 Starts

Round 5
Starts

Round 5 Starts

12H45

Round 3
Continues

Round 3
Continues

Round 3
Continues

13H00

LUNCH

Time

Dota
(continued)

CounterStrike
(continued)

OSU

14H00

Round 4
Starts

Round 4
Starts

Round 4
Starts

14H45

Round 4 Continues

Round 4
Continues

Round 4 Continues

15H30

Round 5 Starts

Round 5
Starts

Round 5 Starts

16H15

Round 5 Continues

Round 5
Continues

Round 5 Continues

17H00

18H00

Awards
Ceremony

19H00

Doors
Close

Rules and Regulations: All Rules and Regulations
pertaining to eSports are available from the MSSA. Players
are strongly advised to familiarise themselves with the
LAN League Bylaws and all Period Specific Rules. If any
Player wishes to provide advice regarding the drafting of
the Period Specific Rules they are encouraged to contact
the eSBoC who will take all comments into account.

The following Medals may be awarded
at the MSSA's 2014 North West LAN Championship:

PREMIER: Medals shall
be awarded to the first three players who are registered
players.

SCHOLARS: Medals shall
be awarded to the first three high school scholars,
provided they have not received any Premier medals.

UNIVERSITY:Medals
shall be awarded to the first three players who are
currently registered at any officially recognised
University, provided the players have not received any
Premier Medals.

WOMEN: Women will be
awarded medals as per the same basis as above, that is in
all three categories.

Colours and National Team
Trials:

National Colours: All
Players that win all of their Matches at a National
Championship will earn National Colours.

Provincial Colours:
All Players that win all of their Matches at a Provincial
Championship will earn Provincial Colours. All Players who
score within the top 50% in a specific Period at a
Provincial Championship, and who also score within the top
50% at a National Championship in the same period and in
the same year, will earn Provincial Colours.

National Team Trials:
All Players that score within the top 20% or top three
places, whichever is greater, in a specific Period at a
Provincial or National Championship will earn an
invitation to National Team Trials. National Team Trials
shall be held in the event that a National Team must be
selected to represent South Africa when competing in such
Period in an International Championship.

Please note that the MSSA does not carry stock of
shirts that are awarded. Registered Players who are
awarded colours will thus be awarded at an event that they
attend after being so awarded.

Please note that times may be changed to take into account
load-shedding.

Monday, 23 February 2015

Northcliff
High School has a long history with Mind Sports South Africa having
affiliated back in 2008 when most schools viewed eSports with just a
little bit of disdain.

Fortunately
though, the forward thinking headmaster immediately saw the possible
benefits of eSports and gave his full backing to the club and to
Noelene du Toit (the teacher in charge).As
a result, the club at Northcliff High School played host to top
international StarCraft player Silvui 'NightEnd' Lazar in 2013. The
school too has consistently produced a plethora of players who have
earned their Senior and School Provincial Colours.

However,
none stand out as much as Ian Pillay and Robert Botha who went on to
represent the South Africa in the Protea Team. Although
Ian only did one stint in the Protea Team in 2010, Robert Both at
went on to earn himself 11 caps as a member of the Protea Team
between the years of 2010 to 2013. Robert
then went on to become the only professional gamer ever produced by
South Africa.The
Northcliff team was able to build on the success of the past by
finishing in third place in the 2014 MSSA Inter-school eSports League
just behind St John's college (in 1st
place), and Crawford College – Sandton (in 2nd
place). Thus
under the ever watchful, and stern, eyes of Noelene du Toit,
Northcliff High School is readying themselves for battle in the 2015 Championships.

The
team for 2015 consists of seventy-five gamers of whom six are
females.

Saturday, 21 February 2015

I
am always amazed that people entering into the world of competitive
gaming expect gaming to be somehow different from the other more
traditional sports. As with the other sports, being a professional
sportsman is not all about fun and playing for fun.

It
is all about hard work – just like any other career that is from
9H00 to 17H00.

Of
course you must enjoy it if you want to get the most out of it, but
it is all about hard work, and like anything else, there will be
the moments when you have been knocked to the ground and when you
wonder why you are even doing it.

That
is the moment that the champions are separated from the losers, the
champions will immediately get up and carry on.

However,
if you still want to be a professional gamer, you should:

Take
care in picking your game.
Picking a game is the first important step. You should be almost
blinkered in choosing your game, and when you play it, you should
learn as much as possible about the game that you have chosen. Any
other game that you play should also feed into the game that you have
chosen so that the recreational games, while different, also hone the
tactics/strategies/ or other skills that you use in your primary
choice of game.

The game that you choose should also be a game
that is played on an international level. There is no point in
choosing a game that is only played within a small group, or one that
will be redundant within 12 months as you will then be limiting your
own earning potential.

Choose
the long-road. So
many people entering gaming choose the short-road that offers what
appears to be quick returns. This is the wrong approach as the quick
returns are often not substantial nor sustainable. The long-road,
although harder will give greater returns for a longer time period.
Thus PandaTank instead of going to play in the DGC competition at
rAge in 2011 and 2012, he went to the MSSA National Team Trials. By
forgoing the quick-fix of the limited prize money, PandaTank was able
to compete in the 3rd
& 4th
IeSF World Championships in South Korea where he was noticed. By
being noticed at such a level thus allowed him to fly to the USA,
France, and Sweden. Not only that the long-term view that PandaTank
took, meant that he would become the first ever South African gamer
who would be paid a salary to play as a full-time career.

Stay
motivated. Being
a professional gamer is hard. There are contractual obligations in
terms of guest appearances, the number of championships that you have
to play as well as even in what position you finish in said
championships. Then you will have to face the critics which will
range from your own family through to friends, bloggers and
journalists. At times it seems more than daunting. But remember that
you are doing what you want to, and that you should be absolutely
blinkered about it, and put your choice above everything else.

Practice,
practice, practice - perfectly. The
first thing you must do is set aside the time in which you practice,
and then, keep to it! Nothing must come between you and your
practice, not your friends not a good night out, not a birthday,
nothing! In the practice sessions you must draw up a schedule for
improving you reaction speed, knowledge of the game, knowledge of the
maps, how others play the game. The discipline that you learn from a
well structured practice schedule will treat you well in a
competition environment and in later life.

Get
the correct equipment. Just
as you would not take a Mini Cooper into a F1 race, the incorrect
equipment can hamper your chances of success. eSports is a sport of
nanoseconds, and, equipment that is outdated or not of the proper
standard can be the difference between winning or losing. Even having
the proper equipment while you are travelling to or from competitions
is important as you do not want to miss the opportunity for every
possible opportunity for training.

Find
the right team. Once
you have established yourself on an amateur level as a competitive
gamer, find the club that treats you as a true professional gamer. Do
not go to the clubs that offer 'flash', that is, equipment and other
freebies. Look for the club that offers a salary and meets with the
legal requirements of such. Remember, this is your career and you
need cash on the table. You cannot eat gifts, hard-drives and such,
you need cash to pay for your living expenses. A club/clan/team that
does not pay a salary is not a professional team, it is merely a
bunch of amateur players who think that they are professionals. Also,
choose a team that is close to you if it is a team game that you are
playing as you will need to practice together.

Enter
tournaments. As
soon you get your gaming equipment, start playing in LAN
championships. Sure you will lose at first, but the championships are
a good way of preparing you mentally for those big games and for you
to develop your big match temperament (BMT). Keep a book with you,
and at the end of every game write down what you did right, what you
did wrong, as well as how you feel you could have done better. Play
as many LAN championships as you can as you will build up a
reputation of being dutiful and passionate about the game you play.

Get
sponsored. In
all sports, athletes benefit from sponsorship. Many years ago I had
the privilege of working with Corrie Sanders, and even though the
prize-money that boxers win puts gaming to shame, Corrie still made
sure that he was sponsored by reputable companies. To get a proper
sponsorship, you can do it yourself, or you can go to an accredited
sports agent.

Gaming
can be a legitimate career path for those who are serious about it,
but gaming is still in its embryonic stages in South Africa, so it
will be hard, but it can be done!

I
am aware that in 2010, the MSSA had a meeting with the owners of
DreamHack (in Johannesburg) about bringing DreamHack to South Africa.
The meeting was common knowledge at the time. However, due
to the lack of the gamer's enthusiasm, the event
was shelved.

Anyone who has been around for a long time
will understand how government works and the impact that
international events have on increasing membership as well as the
burden that such an event puts on the organisers. Often those
involved in running an international event exhibit all the signs of
burn-out after the event and are sometimes physically ill from the
stress and work-load.

The people who do the work are often
volunteers who do both their normal jobs as well as other MSSA
activities.

Thus to effectively host an event, there needs to
be a local team that is going to do most of the work as well as get
assistance from the municipality and the provincial government and/or
the provincial sports council.

However, from what I know, the
MSSA would like to be able to assist any bid for an international
event to be held in South Africa, but there are some legal
requirements that the MSSA, and all other sport bodies, have to
meet before bidding for any international events.

In order to
comply with those requirements, the MSSA has drawn up a checklist
which bidders need to work through and complete fully in order for
MSSA to make a proper decision.

These are:

1.
Application must be made on behalf of a fully-paid-up member club
which meets the following requirements:

1.1 Must be duly registered with MSSA.
1.2 Have a minimum of 3 members.
1.3 Must by able to prove that it is active, for example
through participation in MSSA activities.

2. Application must be accompanied by
provisional written endorsement by (a) the local municipality, and (b) the provincial sports department.

overseas to an IeSF event, I too
see the usual critics exclaim “Why can't we have it here?”.

Where:

either authority indicates that its rules dictate that it will only deal with the national federation, this must be indicated in the application.

The endorsement must indicate what financial or logistical support, if any, will be provided.

3. The proposed venue for the
tournament/championship must be provided, together with
written confirmation that it is available on the proposed
dates.

4. A list of proposed hotels where the
competitors, officials and international delegates will be
housed, together with their grading and room rates.

5. A draft budget,
taking into account at least the following factors:

5.1 Sources of income. 5.2 Expenses, including:

International travel for competitors, officials and delegates.

Domestic travel for competitors, officials and delegates.

Transport within the host city from the airport, to hotel and to venues.

Accommodation and meals.

Venue and equipment hire.

Health and safety requirements.

Promotional equipment

Per diems or other expenses for Stationery, telephone and other miscellaneous expenses.

Prize money

6. What anticipated media coverage
will there be (including online streaming, etc)?

7.
What will the anticipated spectator interest be?

8.
What legacy programmes are envisaged: ie how will the country and
the host city/province, in particular, benefit from hosting the
event in the long term. (Please do not include claims of economic benefits unless there is ample evidence to back
this up.) Specific reference must be made to the increased
exposure of the discipline involved and how hosting the
championships/tournament will increase player numbers in a
sustainable manner.

Any club that can provide the MSSA
with answers to the above questions may have their bid evaluated.

Friday, 20 February 2015

The MSSA has sent out all the documents necessary for registering with MSSA and entering the 2015 edition of the MSSA's on-line inter-school league. Entries for this year close on 16 March 2015, so we really hope to see you this year or next year. Please too join up on the Facebook pagehttps://www.facebook.com/groups/1676447775912809/ where teachers and team captains often discuss friendly matches and technical details. Pass this link on to your players as well!

The bye-laws contain all the rules needed, however, here is a little clarification on how the league will work.

The league shall be played to the Swiss tournament system similar to the one used in Chess, (winners play winners), with one match per every two weeks.

Each school can have as many teams as they wish as long as there is no cross-over of players, so each student enters for one team only. The reason for this is partly logistical as games might be played at the same time, but also because it impacts on a team’s chances of being chosen to represent South Africa.

This means a school can enter two or three Dota 2 teams, for example, but a single player cannot be in the Dota 2 team and the CS: GO team, because these might be played at the same time.

A school does not have to enter in all the categories, of course, but it increases your chances of picking up points. Points will be awarded on the basis of the number of entries for each game, so if there are ten team entries for the Dota 2 category, the winner will get 10 points, second, 9, etc.

To play the school needs to be affiliated to Mind Sports South Africa, and each player needs to also be registered with Mind Sports South Africa. Affiliation fees for the school are R100.00 per annum, while registration fees are R5.00 per player.

Once affiliated and registered the school is able to enter any/all MSSA leagues and tournaments, and to be eligible for the award of regional, provincial and national colours – all of which can significantly impact students’ chances of getting bursaries for tertiary study. Mind Sports is a category one sport, and many universities offer sports bursaries to eSports players!

In 2014 young
Elishia
Retief of Hoèrskool Linden made her mark on the sport of wargaming in South
Africa. Seemingly without
effort Elishia won all the female sections in which she played
and,
almost effortlessly was selected for the MWEB sponsored Senior
Protea Team that
participated in the 17th World Individual
Championships –
Maseru.

The first championship in every calendar year, always
begins with the Old Edwardian Wargames Club's Championships
which was
in its 23rd year. Even though this is only a club
championship and does not even count for rankings and team
selection,
all the top players attend this event in order to hone their
skills
for the new season.

Thus it is not uncommon to see most of the
people who have represented South Africa there, and thus
Elishia was
there too.

It was
therefore,
no surprise to see Elishia win the championship and set the
bar.

It is quite
exciting to see whether Elishia can keep her form and fend of
all
challenges in yet another year.

Thursday, 19 February 2015

When Jason
Batzofin of St John's College earned his place in the junior
2014
MWEB sponsored Protea Team for wargames that participated
in the 17th
World Individual Championships – Maseru, little did he know
that he
would get a taste for victory, and like it!

At such World
Championships, Jason fought his way through to first place,
but
doubts lingered about his prowess without the presence of
the 2013
Junior World Champion , Adam Louw, who was unable to make
the event.Nevertheless,
Jason was not deterred and such criticism made no impact on
him
whatsoever.Thus
at the 28th
MWEB SA National Championships held at the University of
Pretoria,
Jason was determined to put his critics to bed. Jason not
win the
junior title, Jason wrestled the senior title away from the
'Old
guard' in one of the most controversial finishes of all
time.There
was no doubt that Jason deserved to win, but his critics
were far
from silenced.

Thus it was no surprise to see Jason enter the
Old Edwardian Wargames Club's Championships which was in its
23rd
year. Even though this is only a club championship and does
not even
count for rankings and team selection, all the top players
attend
this event in order to hone their skills for the new
season.

Hardened veterans of the South African wargames scene
were present, but Jason feared for naught. Jason
took them all on, and beat them all to finish on a near
perfect score
of 18/20 with 20/20 being a perfect score and again took the
Premier
section.The
win has thus confirmed Jason as a major player in wargames,
and the
man to beat in 2015.Thus
with one of the most prestigious awards under his belt,
Jason has set
his sights on all the major championships in South Africa as
well as
on being selected for the senior Protea Team.

Nominations for the 2015 Ekurhuleni Sports Awards are now open and individuals, clubs and organizations are invited to submit their candidates for the awards before February 27.

The City of Ekurhuleni is committed to recognize sporting excellence in the region and to reward those who represent Ekurhuleni nationally as amateur or professional sportspersons.

The fourth instalment of the Ekurhuleni Sports Awards will see individual champions and those that belong to local sport associations, clubs walking away with the most coveted sporting awards.

There is no doubt that the MSSA intends to nominate all their best players from their four disciplines, which will include players from eSports, Morabaraba, and wargames.

Nominations are for the sporting achievements attained during the period starting January 2014 to 31 December 2014.

Nomination categories are as follows:

Sportsman of the yearSports woman of the yearOutstanding sport officialOutstanding sport administratorSportsman of the year (people with disability)Sportswoman of the year (people with disability)Junior sportsman of the yearJunior sportswoman of the yearCoach of the yearTeam of the yearSports federation of the yearSecondary sport school of the yearPrimary sport school of the yearSports fan of the year.

Wednesday, 18 February 2015

I have been asked to
make the case for Mind Sports to be considered as a sport when it comes
to the awards of half-colours and colours. I would like to exceed this
brief somewhat, because in many ways the
question is academic. Mind Sports is already recognised as a category
one sport by the Department Of Sports and Recreation and by SASCOC in
South Africa, and internationally by Sport Accord, the controlling body
of world sport. It is thus a case of
fait accompli, and in terms of my argument, Q.E.D! I would like
to argue that Mind Sports should play an important part of any
co-curricular programme whether considered a sport or not.

Mind Sports include
many different codes such as board games like Chess, Checkers,
Morabaraba, Backgammon, Go or Diplomacy; card games such as Bridge or
Poker, included by The International Mind Sports Federation
after a US judge ruled Poker was not a game of chance; computer games
such as DotA, League of legends, Tekken, FIFA and so on; historical
wargaming; and role play games such as Dungeons & Dragons.

eSports were included in the 2014 Asian Games, and may soon be part of the Winter Olympic
programme. Mind Sports such as Chess, Checkers, Bridge and Go have been
in included in the World Mind Games which follow
the Summer Olympics and Paralympics, and the ways in which Mind Sports
articulate with other sports is not only becoming clearer and more
regularised every year, but the huge viewership and amount of money
wrapped up in eSports in particular, makes this one
of the fastest growing sports in the world. Although the question
around whether eSports is a sport or not is only just emerging into the
public debate, within the sporting community itself, at the upper
reaches of decision-making at any rate, it is already
a done deal!

For many, though,
the vision of Mind Sports such as Checkers or video-gaming as a sport is
problematic, and I would like to argue this case on two fronts. I would
like first to make the case for Mind Sports
as an important part of any school’s co-curricular programme,
fulfilling a role usually associated with physical sports, and secondly
tackle the issue around whether it is indeed a sport or a recreational
activity.

Thomas Arnold’s
argument for the importance of team sports in education still stands
today as one of the central pillars of the modern education system. Few
teachers would argue that sports are not a vital
component of education, and schools which cannot offer sporting
activities suffer for it greatly. Computer gaming is often characterised
as anti-social and harmful. And yet a raft of research is now
indicating quite the opposite. The emerging consensus is
that up to three hours a day of video-gaming is actually good for you
in terms of happiness, social-well-being, and would you believe it, even
eye-sight! This is because video-gaming is essentially an intensely
social activity, and for kids growing up in a
world where they are discouraged from loitering in public places;
online socialising, including gaming is a vital component in developing
social maturity. Gaming, especially the more competitive team-based
eSports such as DotA or CounterStrike, are games which
encourage collaboration and team-work. A great deal has been written
about the role of online gaming in treating autism, and I think it would
be fair to say that in many ways computer gaming and muscular
Christianity are not incompatible notions! I am not
saying that DotA should replace rugby or hockey in terms of building
body, mind and character, but I am saying that eSports, in a digital
world, should be seen as equally vital in developing well-rounded,
socialised human beings.

James Gee has
highlighted the ways in which computer gaming stands as an exemplary
model for learning, and argues that schools should take heed of this.
Jane McGonigall has argued cogently for the social significance
of gaming, and no less a figure than Albert Einstein, himself a keen
Chess player, believed that games are the “highest form of
investigation”.

This needs some
unpacking. I was struck by a piece of research that came out recently
which looked at what areas of the brain were activated during writing.
While amateur writers, more concerned with whether
to use this word or that had one area of the brain activated,
professional writers were using the same area of the brain as is used
during gaming, ie. the strategic decision-making areas. Professional
writers are not concerned with word-choice; they are making
strategic decisions about how to persuade their audience, what writing
strategies to employ, the same kinds of decisions games-players make all
the time. Knowledge is often conceived of as sitting on a continuum
between highly abstract, universal knowledge
such as algebra or the concept of relativity, and highly contextualised
and experiential knowledge, as in History, Literature or Biology.

Jerome Bruner argued
that this dichotomy between paradigmatic and narrative modes of knowing
is in fact a false dichotomy, and I think this is what Einstein had in
mind.

Beyond any knowledge of this or that,
lies the meta-theory, and in this realm metaphor and narrative are the
building blocks of knowledge. All knowledge is situated within a given
paradigm, and knowledge is often advanced simply by shifting paradigm. A
case in point would be the disagreement between
Niels Bohr and Einstein over quantum physics. Einstein could not
believe that God played dice with the universe and refused to believe in
the possibility of any of the “spooky” effects of quantum mechanics. We
now know that Einstein was wrong, but at the time
both paradigms stood in stark contrast to each other, with different
ways of explaining the universe, neither proven. When Gauss dreamed up
his non-linear geometry he did not suspect that space might indeed be
curved. Charles Boole had no idea his Boolean
algebra would have applications for electronics. The venture into
quantum physics, non-linear geometry or Boolean algebra were all
game-like, what-if explorations which played with the conventional
world-view.

Games are
meta-theoretical in that they approach questions around how to construct
what is known into a coherent view of the world, they are ways of
investigating the meaning of meaning! If we know this, what
do we do with this knowledge? If it were this way instead of that way,
what would it mean? This is the realm of intellectual history and the
philosophy of knowledge. Knowledge does not stand alone, it stands
within a tradition and within paradigms, and what
I imagine Einstein meant by games as the highest form of investigation,
are the tools we use to move beyond the straight-jacket of the
paradigm.

Now, I am not saying
that Chess or DotA can be seen as somehow more important than Science,
but playfulness is a form of investigation, and games in education are
not just tools to engage, they are also cognitive
tools. We are only just coming to appreciate this, and I would argue
that gaming, including computer gaming should be seen both as a sport
important in building character and as tools we can use for cognitive
development generally because they enhance our
ability to think strategically. I believe that games play is essential
in developing problem-solving skills, and may help explain why boys seem
better at it than girls.

In many places Chess
is being introduced into the academic curriculum with good effect, but I
believe it would have greater effect to introduce a range of games.
Different games address different aspects of
general intelligence, which is why a good Chess player is not
necessarily a good draughts player. Mind Sports includes a range of
games, and all have their value and place. I believe all schools should
be aiming at building body, mind and character, and that
mind sports has an important role to play in this process. Not in
isolation but together with academics and physical sports.

But are Mind Sports,
whether they be computer games or board games like Checkers, Go or
Backgammon, or card games like Bridge, not recreational rather than
sporting in nature? Maybe they have a place in the
educational programme, but not as sports! Maybe they should be
considered cultural activities rather than sport.

The dictionary definition of sport usually goes something along the lines of “a contest or game in which people do certain physical activities according to a specific
set of rules and compete against each other” (Merriam-Webster).
There are usually three major elements to the definition and that is
that it is physical, involves contestation, and is governed by a set of
rules. Mind Sports easily qualifies in the latter
two of these elements, so the issue really comes down to the definition
of physical. All Mind Sports involve a physical element. Chess pieces
are moved, cards are dealt, die are rolled, and mouse clicks are made.
We have not yet achieved a state in which our
minds can exist independently of our bodies. All sports have a mental
aspect and a physical aspect, and this should probably be inserted into
the definition.

In some eSports
hand-eye co-ordination is crucial, but clearly there is not necessarily a
high level of physical exertion required, although stamina is always
crucial. On the other hand we need to understand
that the level of physicality required of any sport sits on a continuum
from heavily physical sports such as swimming to those with less
exertion such as darts or pistol shooting! eSports certainly require a
greater level of hand-eye co-ordination than some
sports which require only exertion – such as nurdling or caber-tossing!
One can see that the argument then revolves around whether pure
physical exertion (running) or hand-eye co-ordination (clay-pigeon
shooting or archery) is more integral to one’s definition
of physicality. Given that physicality is only one element in the
definition of sport, and that all sport is both mental and physical to
some extent, it is easy to see why Sports Accord, the umbrella body for
world sport, Olympic and non-Olympic sports, has
accepted Mind Sports into its fold.

So why should Mind
Sports be considered sports in schools rather than cultural
contestations such as debating, theatre sports or poetry slams? I
believe that Chess, for example, or eSports both involve very
similar dynamics in terms of a rule-governed contest to sports which is
somewhat different to the contestation of a debate or public speaking.
Firstly the logic of the contest in a debate or poetry slam is usually
more about the performance than the result.
While a school may be declared a winner, it is usually by adjudication
rather than by a rule-governed outcome. In eSports or Checkers, players
win the game every bit as much as they do in netball or tennis! You do
not need an adjudicator to decide who won
or lost. Secondly, Chess or DotA shares with rugby or cricket the
aspect of being a game, a common vocabulary, conventions of running
leagues, tournaments and matches, with notions of a season, regular
fixtures and medals, cups or trophies to be won. Debating
leagues are run somewhat differently.

For all these reasons, I would argue that schools need to recognise Mind Sports as a full sport!